A Star is born: Cartwright defects to get more out of himself

If you’d asked him a year ago, Hilton Cartwright wouldn’t have been able to foresee a situation in which he’d ever play for a Big Bash League club other than the Perth Scorchers. But after a poor summer, Cartwright - who played Test and one-day cricket for Australia as recently as September 2017 - thought his Twenty20 game could do with a shakeup.

Shortly after the end of the BBL season, Melbourne Stars list manager and assistant coach Trent Woodhill approached the hulking all-rounder. After a chat in Sydney, Woodhill convinced Cartwright, 27, to take the plunge. Next season he will play for the Stars.

Hilton Cartwright. Credit:AAP

“It came a little bit out of the blue,” Cartwright told The Age.

“I felt like I’ve got everything [I could] out of the Perth Scorchers’ program. I felt like my game hadn’t really advanced too much in the last 12 months. So I thought it was a great opportunity to be around a different set of coaching staff, a different environment and hopefully learn a few more things about my game.”

Advertisement

The Zimbabwean-born Cartwright will remain with Western Australia in state cricket. He suggested the decision to leave the Scorchers became easier after discussions with those close to him. He’d already enjoyed the experience of learning under Daniel Vettori during a county stint with Middlesex so Cartwright wanted to further his cricket education.

“When it first came up I was finding it really hard to comprehend the extent of what I was potentially going to do,” he said.

“After the season I’d had personally, it made think about potentially going elsewhere to see if something else would click in my game.”

Having made the decision he was nervous after the prospect of telling Perth coach Adam Voges, also Cartwright’s state coach with the Warriors.

“I had a chat with Adam. He was obviously disappointed that I was leaving. WA want to keep [their homegrown talent] as much as they can,” Cartwright said.

“But he was really understanding. He said ‘mate, if you’re happy with whatever choices you’re making, then I can’t be happier for you.’ He was really understanding

“It was a discussion I was quite nervous to have. [But] I think we both left the discussion on very good terms.”

More broadly Cartwright is determined to improve his concentration at the crease. He averaged just 24.88 with the bat during the just-completed Sheffield Shield season, dropping well away in the Test pecking order.

“I think I’ve got quite tied up in a lot of technical issues over the last 18 months to two years,” he said.

“So I think going forward I’ve started focusing not too much on the technical side of things and to work a bit more on the mental side, whereas I think 18 months ago when I was playing Test cricket my mental side of my game was really strong, and my technique wasn’t as good as it is now.”

Cartwright is one of several WA mainstays on the move from Perth in the BBL. Shaun Marsh has signed a three-year deal with the Melbourne Renegades, Nathan Coulter-Nile is also expected to defect to the Stars, while Josh Philippe looks set to remain with the Sydney Sixers despite a strong attempt from the Scorchers to lure him back.

Cartwright wasn’t sure about the rationale behind other players’ decisions, although suggested job-security was probably behind veteran Marsh’s move. Perth are looking at veteran Cameron White to help fill the void.

States were meanwhile waiting on Cricket Australia’s contract list before finalising their own squads for next season. Young Victorian fast bowler Wes Agar is expected to head back to South Australia.

It's understood out-of-contract Sydney Thunder leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed could also be on his way to the Scorchers. Ahmed has also attracted interest from the Renegades.